User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
Unabashedly here one week after Yoongi was caught reading this on the In the Soop preview. Sad to say, this book would’ve absolutely slipped under my radar otherwise. This is one of my favorite reads of this year.
Given the idea of nunchi in Korean culture, I personally found this story especially compelling. In a different setting, I don’t think it would have the same impact. And while there’s definitely subtext of commentary on Korean society, overall, I feel like the author was after telling a fresh YA/coming-of-age story, which this certainly is.
It’s a very fast-paced, quick read and left me wanting more. My one complaint is that the ending is a little too perfect, and yet, somehow left so many loose ends? I can forgive it, since all of the characters are absolutely adorable. I just want more!
So yeah, thank you for reading this, Yoongi!
As a side note for any ARMY that are here- I’m slowly working my way through Bangtan related reads, and this is by far one of my faves. If you liked the Notes or Demian for focusing on the importance of friendship as a developing youth, you will likely enjoy this book too.
Rating: really liked it
so we're really just gonna ignore the homoeroticism between gon and yunjae huh
Rating: really liked it
I received a copy of this book for free from the publisher (HarperVia).
This book is why I love international books. They’re always so different from what is traditionally published here in America and I find that so refreshing.
In the prologue it states that, “I won’t tell you whether it has a happy ending or a tragic ending…neither you nor I nor anyone can ever really know whether a story is happy or tragic.” I think that perfectly sums up the book. It is sad at times, but there is still hope and happiness. The book toes the the line between both very well and highlights the complexities of life.
This is a very fast book to read since the chapters are so short. I personally loved the short chapters because it kept the book moving at a good pace.
I loved the juxtaposition between the two main characters. Their dynamic was so fascinating. A boy that feels nothing meets a boy who feels too much.
Lastly, there are some lovely descriptions about books in this novel. At one point the main character states, “I felt connected to the smell of old books. The first time I smelled them, it was as if I’d encountered something I already knew” (pg 43). At another point he states, “But books are quiet. They remain dead silent until somebody flips open a page. Only then do they spill out their stories, calmly and thoroughly, just enough at a time for me to handle” (pg 127).
Overall, I found this novel to be beautiful and thought provoking! If you’re looking to try something new and a bit different, pick up this book!
Rating: really liked it
"Lastly, and I know it sounds like an excuse but neither you nor I nor anyone can ever really know whether a story is happy or tragic"
I never really thought of checking out BTS' book recommendations but thanks to my friend who has been gushing about it and knowing that if it's not for her, I would never come across this book would be such a regret.
Almond follows the story of Yunjae, who was born with a brain condition called Alexithymia that makes it hard for him to feel emotions. And as the story unfolds, you can see how the author tries to portray this kind of condition to be something that is rarely understood in society and often leads to prejudice and discrimination. Yunjae was often labeled as a "monster" and got outcasted among his friends for his inability to feel anything.
This book showed how
children were pre-described by society to meet certain behavior . After all,
"human beings are a product of their education." Even so, Yunjae's victimization from his classmates due to his oddness was not the main focus in this book but rather, on his effort to understand the behaviors of the people around him and how neurotypical interactions work.
Like when he notes how easily people were to throw up their hands at the challenge of fixing remote problems, and in turn, cower in fear at the thought of fixing those nearest to them. There is a devastating eloquence in how Yunjae can express the complexities of human behavior and interactions with such simplicity, and through Yunjae’s eyes, the reader is given a different way of looking at the world.
"There are a hundred answers to one question in this world. So it's hard for me to give you a correct answer"
I couldn't see this book to be as impactful if it was taken from a different culture. The commentary on Korean society is what made this book to be compelling for a coming-of-age novel. And it is so ironic how this book was supposed to be about a boy with no emotion, yet was enigmatically emotional. I honestly enjoy this book and it is highly affecting, which is sure to delight readers of every age.
I also enjoy the philosophies and analogies it has to offer, creating a message powerfully delivered. This was the best book I've read in 2021 so far. Thank you Sofea for letting me know about this & thank you Namjoon/Yoongi for letting us know, that such a masterpiece exists.
Rating: really liked it
Quite melodramatic and with a lot of coincidences. However what especially did not sit well with me is how the neurodiverse main character is supposedly “cured” by friendship, romantic love and a Disney like act of self sacrifice.… I still truly believe the heart can prevail over the brainThe first three (short, all of them are) chapters of Almond are wild, dark and sucked me in immediately. The narrator, a teenager who recounts growing up through bullying and trauma while dealing with the diagnosis of having small amygdala (the titular almond), reminds me of Oscar from Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. Emotions are strange to him and his mother and grandma train the boy to interpret other people, while imprinting the mantra:
Don’t stand out, that’s all you need to do.An other proverb that comes back is:
Too much honesty hurts others.Won-pyung Sohn as said starts the book of with a proverbial bang, but the plot in the novel is in general much too convenient, with not only a very weird request of a totally unknown to the main person professor, but also his son turning up in the class of the main character. In general I found that part 1 (that is rather documentary but very effectively captures the cruelty of children) didn't flow in a naturally way into the later parts of the book. This while the book in my view takes a lot of too often used tropes in the later three sections, that loosely fit in the Band-of-outcasts-with-more-similarities-than-imagined-á-la-Breakfast-Club theme.
The whole rebellious kid (
You’re stupid because you know too much) having a heart of gold when he is finally “seen” in by an outsider is for instance something that I have see much too often. He does have good quotes, like:
If I can’t protect myself from being hurt I rather hurt other people. but he is really a bad boy as well, as animal abuse needs to drive home to the reader.
And there is an aloof a girl who is apparently practicing running in a library?
Overall the trope of someone different being a saint to help the rest see the value of normal life, is something I find a bit standard, and then there is the way how the whole book turns into a story of someone “recovering” from a neurological condition due to romantic love.
Quite Disney, and in some kind of way relaying for me that these things can go away as long as someone just tries enough.
All this combined made this for me a 2.5 star read, rounded down.
Rating: really liked it
Please don’t adapt this book into anything. Just don’t ruin it.
1. Clever writing
2. Awesome translation
3. Tragedy in tragedy in tragedy
4. The story is as undeniable but weird as the cover
5. Trigger warnings for extreme bloody violence, bullying, animal harm (it was traumatising for me to read about it. Any living being cannot be tortured in any way. Period.)
The first half is perfect perfect while the second half seems a bit rushed. Nevertheless the ending has a good closure.
Not a fan of so many things regarding the main or side characters. However, considering how intrigued I was the whole time I am giving this fiction a perfect rating.
The thrill. The pain. The agony. Please suffer.
Rating: really liked it
Even though I know book blurbs can't always be trusted, I'm a sucker for ones that compare said book to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. I just can't help it. I loved that book. So if another one is compared to it, I'm gonna take my chances.
I take that blurb writer's word for it even though I doubt they even read the book half the time.
Sometimes it pays off. Others.... myeh.
The protagonist of
Curious Incident.... was a teen on the Autism spectrum. The protagonist of
Almond is a teen with Alexithymia, a disorder caused by smaller than normal amygdalae, an almond-shaped mass of grey matter that's responsible for the perception of many emotions.
I'll be honest: Another reason I
had to read this is because I saw the word "amygdala" in a review of it.
"Amygdala" is one of my favourite words. I love how it looks and love how it sounds. For the longest time, when I saw it in books, I pronounced it "Am-ig-DAL-YUH. That doesn't sound very nice and I didn't like the word. But when I heard the proper way, "Uh-MIG-da-lah".... it just set off oodles and scads of feel good hormones
Yeh, I know, I know. Weird.
So anyway, I decided to read
Almond because it was likened to
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime and because I got a nerdy brain orgasm seeing the word amygdala.
Yeh.... not exactly proof that a book is gonna be good.
But, that was my reasoning and so I read the book.
And..... it's not
bad, but it's also not
good.
Yunjae is a teen diagnosed with Alexithymia because his amygdalae (woohoo!) are smaller than normal. As a result, he is unable to feel many common emotions like love and fear and anger.
Near the beginning of the book, his mother and grandmother are brutally attacked in front of him and even then, he is unable to feel anything. As you might imagine, this draws derision from other kids in his school.
Yunjae narrates the book, showing us the world through his eyes, describing what it's like to not have feelings and how he tries to understand those who do.
This
could have been really good but it just didn't make much sense. The characters were not believable. For instance, the adults around him open up and tell him every little thing, as though he's their therapist. Another thing that didn't make sense is that his mother asked a friend to take care of Yunjae in the event she is ever unable to, but never told him anything about Yunjae's condition. Ooooo-kaaaaaaay. She wouldn't have, like, I don't know, said 'Hey, before you agree, I need to tell you that this kid has special needs that you'll need to know about and understand'?
I don't know, I'm not a mother so what do I know? All I can tell you is that if someone's gonna take care of my cat, they are gonna hear all about her needs and wants and quirks
beforehand.
Much of the dialogue was awkward as well, possibly due to it being a translation.
It must be difficult to write a character without feelings, and the author didn't always succeed. Yunjae does feel things all along, otherwise some of his observations would have been different.
The last part of the book is unbelievable as well. Too cutesy and neat of an ending. It didn't make sense and I didn't buy it.
(view spoiler)
[ Suddenly Yunjae falls in love with a girl and we are told doctors sometimes get things wrong and now his amygdalae (!) are working and maybe even grew. Even though a few chapters ago Yunjae felt nothing when he saw his mother and grandmother bludgeoned with a hammer, he now magically can fall in love.
(hide spoiler)]Nope, not buying it at all.
Maybe others will like this more than I did. A big turn-off for me is that it reads like a young adult novel and I rarely like young adult writing. Perhaps I could have looked past the other things and enjoyed it more if it wasn't for that.
2.5 stars. I'll round it up because, hey..... amygdala!
Rating: really liked it
this book is sweet and nice.
i am not sweet or nice.
we were destined not to get along.
not just because of that, but also because i don't like sad/sick kid finds happiness type books. they make me sad at the beginning but they don't make me happy at the end - things always wrap up too neatly, like if deus ex machina involved less cool greek god vengeance, so i'm left thinking about all the real-world sad and suffering children who don't have a random happily ever after following 280ish pages.
which is the type of thought i use books to escape from.
a lose / lose situation.
bottom line: not a bad book! just a very, very not-for-me book.
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currently-reading updatespoll time! is reading books i don't think i'll like:
a) brave
b) stupid
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reading books by asian authors for aapi month!
book 1: kim jiyoung, born 1982
book 2: siren queen
book 3: the heart principle
book 4: n.p.
book 5: the hole
book 6: set on you
book 7: disorientation
book 8: parade
book 9: if i had your face
book 10: joan is okay
book 11: strange weather in tokyo
book 12: sarong party girls
book 13: the wind-up bird chronicle
book 14: portrait of a thief
book 15: sophie go's lonely hearts club
book 16: chemistry
book 17: heaven
book 18: the atlas six
book 19: the remains of the day
book 20: is everyone hanging out without me? and other concerns
book 21: why not me?
book 22: when the tiger came down the mountain
book 23: the lies we tell
book 24: to paradise
book 25: pachinko
book 26: you are eating an orange. you are naked.
book 27: cursed bunny
book 28: almond
Rating: really liked it
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The amygdalae are two almond-shaped nodes in the brain responsible for the processing of emotion, most notably fear. ALMOND is a book about a young Korean boy with underdeveloped amygdalae, leading to a condition called "alexithymia," which is a brain disorder in which a person can't really identify with or even experience emotions in a normal way (their own or others). As a psychology major, we talked briefly about alexithymia but never in any concrete detail. I was surprised by how similarly it was portrayed to someone who might have autism or a nonverbal learning disability, as Sohn's struggle with empathy is something that I have seen in people with the two aforementioned conditions, but the difference is that
he doesn't really feel anything either-- at all. Which makes me wonder if maybe the reason I didn't learn more about alexithymia when I was in college 10+ years ago was because there simply wasn't that much literature
about the disorder in the first place.
Obviously, as a psychology major, I was super-psyched (ha!) to receive a copy of this book from the publisher. It's also a translated work from Korea, which makes it an excellent choice for celebrating AAPI heritage month. Interestingly, I heard another reviewer saying that in Korea it's marketed to a young adult audience, but in the United States, it's been rebranded as an adult title. I can see why. This book is very dark. The teenage character sees his mother and grandmother bludgeoned and stabbed before him, killing his grandmother and putting his mother into the hospital. After their respective death and incapacitation, he is put into the care of a well-meaning neighbor, who lets him continue to live alone and run his mother's bookstore while he goes to school and tries to have some semblance of a normal life.
Given that the hero, Yunjae, has so much difficulty with empathy and relating to others, he often attracts negative attention. One day, this attention comes from a juvenile delinquent named Gon, who has a whole bunch of his own problems, one of which brings him into the sphere of Yunjae in the first place. As you learn more about them, their bond becomes one of contrasts: Yunjae is a "good boy" who feels nothing at all; Gon is a "bad boy" who feels far too much. Yunjae has no empathy and could do terrible things without remorse but doesn't. Gon, on the other hand, lashes out at everyone, even as it tears him up inside. It becomes a curious and fascinating study about societal norms and morality-- especially in the last act of the book, when Yunjae makes another friend named Dora.
ALMOND is such a stark and powerful book, written in spare prose and with surprising depth of emotion. I loved the neurodivergent hero and his quest to just try to live his life, despite his disability. I liked the subtleties of his development, and how the people around him helped him relate to himself and those around him in various ways (whether deliberately or inadvertently). I still feel like this could (and should) be read and enjoyed by a young adult audience, but again, it does have some dark content, like the aforementioned crime scene, and a scene involving graphic animal cruelty (a butterfly) that was quite hard to read and made me pretty sad.
I would say that this would appeal to people who liked WONDER and CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHTTIME, as it has the same elements of a boy developing agency and independence on his journey to life despite being picked on for something he can't control.
Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review! 4 to 4.5 stars
Rating: really liked it
The plot: Yunjae was born with a brain condition called Alexithymia that makes it hard for him to feel emotions like fear or anger. He doesn't really feel happiness, at least not in a strong way, but he is content living with his mother and grandmother… until an incident that leaves his grandmother dead and his mother in a coma. Dealing with the aftermath of this, he tries to cope without anyone to help him make through life faking what he's "supposed" to feel.
This gif sums up the entire novel for me:
It really was so close. I loved getting inside this character's head. I loved seeing his attempts at getting to know others. The friendship he starts to form and how he interacts is quite clever. It was a four, possibly five star read. Really this is a book that's ruined by the last twenty pages.
Warning: Major spoilers.
(view spoiler)
[So, the end of this book lowered this so much. Guess what, he feels emotions "because the heart is more powerful than the brain" or something like that… SO LOVE BEATS MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS AND THEIR SILLY MEDICAL DEGREES! Also, his mom comes out of her coma seemingly fine, despite the fact that those silly medical professionals said that she most likely wouldn't come out of the coma, and even if she did she would not be the same, THEY WERE WRONG BECAUSE THEY KNOW NOTHING. It's such a ridiculous happy ending that feels so tonally off that it just hurt what was such a good book. (hide spoiler)]Had the book ended a few pages earlier or had a different ending this would have been a 4 or 4.5 star read. As things stand sections one through three are still great, but the ending lowered it to a generous 2.5/5 stars, rounded up to 3.
Rating: really liked it
I’m on BookTube! =)
”This story is, in short, about a monster meeting another monster. One of the monsters is me.”It’s been ages I buddy read “Almond” with my friend Katja but I really wanted to write a review about the book. Unfortunately my life got in the way and I neither read as much as I wanted to nor did I manage to write reviews about the books I finished. I’m going to rectify that now though and after I wrote this review there will follow a couple of other reviews as well. So watch out for them. It’s about time I write them down. ;-) This said, let’s head right back to the actual review and speak about “Almond”.
”Granny, why do people call me weird?”
Her lips loosened.
“Maybe it’s because you’re special. People just can’t stand it when something is different, eigoo, my adorable little monster.”
Granny hugged me so tight my ribs hurt. She always called me a monster. To her, that wasn’t a bad thing.I wanted to read this book for a while and when my dear friend Katja asked me to read it together for the #Koreadathon I immediately said yes. We picked it for the “read a book recommended by a Korean celebrity” prompt and the fact that RM as well as SUGA of BTS read it and enjoyed it was enough reason to go for it as well. I trust my boys taste in books and I’m really glad I decided to go for “Almond” because it was an intriguing read and very thought-provoking. The plot of the book is easily described: It’s about a boy named Yunjae who was born with a brain condition named alexithymia which basically means that he can’t feel emotions. The part of his brain that is responsible for our feelings (and formed like an almond, hence the book title) isn’t fully developed and that causes him to have troubles to understand human emotions. Our MCs mother and his grandmother tried their best to teach him how to cope with his lack of emotions but then one day tragedy hits and Yunjae is left to fend for himself.
”People sometimes say how cool it’d be to be fearless, but they don’t know what they’re talking about. Fear is an instinctive defense mechanism necessary for survival. Not knowing fear doesn’t mean that you’re brave; it means you’re stupid enough to stay standing on the road when a car is charging towards you.”I had so many thoughts when I read this book and a lot of them had to do with the way Yunjae was raised. I know his mother and grandmother only had the best intentions and wanted him to blend in with everyone, but I think to some extent their constant efforts made it even more difficult for him to deal with his condition. Emotions are something you can’t learn because human feelings are very complex and some people will cry because they are happy while others will laugh even though they are sad. You might be able to explain the general reasons behind behaviour like crying but every person is an individual and we all react differently when we’re overwhelmed by our feelings. The fine nuances of emotions... well they are something you can’t learn. So even though I understood where Yunjae’s mother was coming from I still didn’t agree with her methods. It felt like Yunjae was under a lot of pressure to learn “the proper reactions” and I kinda felt sorry for him.
”Dr. Shim was right – being ordinary was the trickiest path. Everyone thinks “ordinary” is easy and all, but how many of them would actually fit into the so-called smooth road the word implied?”Well, and then his grandma died and his mother was out of the picture as well, leaving him to fight through all the troubles on his own. Okay, almost all on his own because Dr. Shim was amazing and I loved that he helped him out! Honestly, bless his soul because he just accepted Yunjae the way he was and tried to help him as best as he could. <3 But Dr. Shim isn’t the only one that helped him to find his way and Gon as well as Dora had an impact on the MCs character development.
”Dora. Dora was exactly the polar opposite of Gon. If Gon tried to teach me pain, guilt and agony, Dora taught me flowers and scents, breezes and dreams.”I loved the way this was put, because it sums up their different personalities and essence so well. With Dora Yunjae discovered the soft feelings of first love and attraction and with Gon he learned about true friendship and hardships. Some might say Gon was a catalyst and I’m inclined to agree with that, but I also think that Dora’s appearance was at least as vital to Yunjae’s development as Gon’s. Both played a very important part in the MCs life and contributed to his experiences.
”About what?”
“About destiny and time.”
“What a surprise to hear those words from you.”
“Sheesh, did you know that even when you say the simplest things, you sound like a dick?”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Now you know.”
“Yes, thanks.”I really loved the bluntness between Gon and Yunjae! They took each other the way they were and they didn’t try to pretend to be someone else when they were in each other’s company. I think this might have actually been the main reason their friendship could bloom and evolve because the way they met definitely wasn’t the best start. (And that’s an understatement right there.) I’m not going to spoil anything here though. ;-) Despite being unable to feel emotions the same way other people do Yunjae was quite a wise person sometimes and could look through people’s disguises with surprising ease. I suppose you could also say that because of his disability to feel emotions he was probably more perceptive than others?
”She said families walk hand in hand. Granny would hold my other hand. I have never been abandoned by anyone. Even though my brain was a mess, what kept my soul whole was the warmth of the hands holding mine on both sides.”I’m pretty sure it was due to this that he was able to see who Gon truly was. The way Yunjae described Gon was simple yet beautiful and I guess this is also how I would describe Won-Pyung Sohn’s writing style: Beautiful simplicity with many layers. The author never beats about the bush or hides information. It’s all there and you get exactly what you read which was a very refreshing approach and even though the conversations between the characters are pretty unexcited, they still have some sort of beauty to them. I didn’t think I’d enjoy the writing style so much but I did. =)
”I said, shut the fuck up.”
“You are not that kind of person.”
“Fuck,” he shouted, half crying. A nail on the wall must’ve pricked my leg, because it was bleeding. Gon saw and started weeping like a child. Yes, this was who he was. The kind of person who tears up at a drop of blood, who feels pain for other’s pain.As for the ending of the book: I liked it but it almost felt too smooth? I don’t know if I’d have done anything differently but I’ve to admit that I still don’t know how I feel about it. I thought a lot about my final reaction to Yunjae’s story but all I can come up with is that the ending felt too convenient. Still, I really enjoyed “Almond” and I can recommend reading it if you want to go for something different and thought-provoking. I still think about the book and in my book this is always a good thing. ;-)
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I really enjoyed this one and it definitely made me think a lot about people and their emotions. Yunjae was an interesting MC and I really liked how he tried to understand the people around him. The way certain scenes and characters were described was very intriguing and to see everything through Yunjae’s eyes gave this a unique perspective.
Full RTC as soon as I managed to put my thoughts into words. *lol*
Also if you’re interested about my participation in the Koreadathon you can watch the video on my channel: The Smallest Koreadathon Participation Ever - But My Enthusiasm Makes Up For It ;-)!
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I’m already very curious about this book and I’ll actually buddy read it with my dear BookTube friend Katja!
We’re taking part in this year’s #Koreadathon which is hosted by monica kim and books with chloe! It’s the first time I’m actually taking part in a readathon so I’m very excited. XD
Plus I’m a huge fan of BTS and I can easily connect this with a book! Because if you know BTS and watched their show “In the Soop” you’ll know that RM as well as SUGA read
“Almond” during the show. ;-) So this is the perfect choice for “read a book recommended by a Korean celebrity”!
I have no idea how many of the challenges I’ll be able to check on my list but it will be fun to try. ;-)
Did you ever take part in a readathon? Do you plan on joining the koreadathon?!
Talk to me and let me know! ;-)
Rating: really liked it
i love books that move you deeply and all but now i’m sad, emotionally wrecked and will probably be on the verge of tears for the rest of the day, thank you 손원평 🥲
Rating: really liked it
The first two-thirds (basically part 1&2) of this book was easily 5 stars for me but then it unfortunately went a bit downhill.
The premise promised the deeper exploration of a very interesting friendship(?) between a boy who couldn't feel anything and one who felt too much. I confess I didn't know what alexithymia was before this novel so I was intrigued to read about Yunjae, but in the end Gon turned out to be my favourite character. Gon, whose troubled childhood made him put up a vicious mask but actually cries over hurting a butterfly. Whose violent facade is actually a cry for help that noone seems to undertsand. Who, in spite of being abandoned, decides to stick by Yunjae's side and tries to help him.
There is no such person who can't be saved. There are only people who give up on trying to save others.
Unfortunately after part two everything starts to feel rushed. We don't get any more of the main characters' peculiar bonding conversations about retro pornstars and chimpanzee laughter which made me care for them and helped me understand their worldviews earlier. Important parts about Gon's past stay a mystery even though Yunjae explicitly states that Gon shared those memories with him. I understand that it is Yunjae's story primarily but that didn't stop the author to write a whole chapter about Dr. Shim or explain Dora's background in great detail.
This story is, in short, about a monster meeting another monster. One of the monsters is me.
I mostly just feel unsatisfied. And disappointed because it could have been so much more. The prologue promised a study of two peculiar individuals and their relationship, but halfway through it just gave up and decided to wrap up quickly with a mediocre conclusion. I have to say, I didn't like the ending. The author writes that
we can never really know whether a story is happy or tragic which I assume was supposed to justify the sudden turn at the end but after the messy last two parts and the sudden flood of miracles, I closed the book with a sour look on my face.
I have almonds inside me.
So do you.
So do everyone you love and those you hate.
No one can feel them.
You just know they are there.
Some finishing thoughts:- I'm still not sure what to think of Dora. To some extent, I feel like she was necessary but at the same time, I think her sudden apperance took away too much from the main plot.
- It was interesting to read the translator's note at the end, where she wrote that after reading the Korean text, she wasn't sure whether it was just her interpretation or there really might have been something more than friendship between the main characters. After she discussed it with the author and other translators, I think she conveyed the slight ambiguity really well in English.
Overall, I wanted more. Both in page count and getting to know the main characters and their relationship. I hate giving it only 3 stars when I absolutely adored the beginning but sadly it didn't live up to its full potential.
Rating: really liked it
It's a revelation! After a month of reading Korean works in translation and just soaking in that feeling of "han" it's nice to get what is essentially a sunny middle-grade read! I mean it is still Korean, people get beaten and there's more than one brutal knife attack, but otherwise it's downright hopeful!
Yunjae has a brain condition called Alexithymia which means he doesn't feel fear or anger. He's not good at reading other's emotions either and has to be taught to fake it by his mom and grandmother. Yunjae's a teenager so you can imagine how his condition is quickly seen by his peers - and he is soon targeted by the bully Gon. But they soon form an unlikely bond, until Dora enters the picture.
Told from Yunjae's perspective, the English translation lends itself well to our emotionless protagonist, opting for a clean translation without the need for literary flourishes. The whole thing is a bit of a fairytale but I can't begrudge this uncharacteristically (for Korea) sunny read.
Rating: really liked it
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Written in a simple and crisp prose
Almond is a slim novel that is primarily concerned with empathy and human connection. Yunjae, the narrator of this story, was born with underdeveloped amygdalae, which are two-almond shaped nuclei that process our emotional responses (prior this book I had no idea of what they were...). Because of this condition, alexithymia, he cannot recognise and or is unaware of feeling emotions (be it anger happiness or fear). Knowing that this will make him 'odd' in the eyes of society, and will inevitably make him the target of other people's cruelty, Yunjae's mother, alongside his grandmother, try to 'coach' him, so that he can at least feign certain emotions. Yunjae obliges, as he's unbothered by his own lack of emotional responses, as he cares, in his own way, for his family. Once he's sixteen Yunjae's existence is irrevocably changed by two tragic events. Without his relatives Yunjae retreats in himself.
The arrival of Gon at his school complicates Yunjae's life. Gon, who feels everything strongly, seems intent on punishing Yunjae, but Yunjae is seemingly unperturbed by Gon's escalating bullying. After a series of not so friendly encounters outside of school, they find themselves growing accustomed to each other's presence. When a girl catches the attention of Yunjae he finds himself wanting to 'feel'.
While I overall enjoyed this novel, I did think that the first section was a bit too heavy on exposition. The violent incidents that leave Yunjae alone were kind of over-the-top, as was the finale. The girl, who appears very late in the story, felt like an unwelcome addition to the story as it suggested that 'love' is some magical cure. Still, I did like that seeing the ways in which Gon and Yunjae try to better each other.
